How to find a Daughter
by drunkenshowers
Summary: Lyra wants to find her own way in the world, but her father, Diego, is terrified of losing her. Shira wants to teach her cubs to hunt and Diego just knows they are going to inherit his skill for hunting, and their mother's talent at getting lost. Inherit it, they do.
1. Chapter 1

**So did anyone else see the new Ice Age movie? I've been wanting to write an Ice Age fic for a while and I got some inspiration, reviews appreciated muchlyy. Chocolate and rainbows to anyone who spots a Harry Potter ref.**

**I don't own Ice Age. I do however own anything that you don't recognise.  
**

_Prologue_

Shira groaned in pain. Ellie gently wrapped her trunk around her paw and talked to her in a hushed voice. "It's okay, you'll be fine, here it comes..." Shira cried out and her mate, Diego looked into her eyes fearfully.

"Are... Are you okay?" Ellie shot him a look. "Er, well I know you're-"

"Shut. Up. Now," snapped Shira between sharp gasps.

Sid sat outside of the gigantic hollow tree, greener than usual and looking dead ahead, barely able to speak. His grandmother was tottering around, announcing baby names to whoever would listen. Manny sat with his daughter, trying to explain for the first time to his almost-a-proper-teenager how babies were born. "Jeez, Dad, you could have told me before this."

"I know, but-"

Peaches raised an eyebrow. "You know I knew this when I was a kid, right? Mum told me." A sigh of relief escaped Manny.

"And you know-"

"How babies are made? Uh-huh." Her father looked at her sharply. "That's only for when you've found your mate, kapeesh?" Peaches rolled her eyes and nodded, unable to hold back a smile.

Suddenly, Diego's head poked around from inside the tree's hollow. He wore a grin showing all his teeth, to which Granny commented "He could do with some dental work."

"I'm a daddy! I've got a son!" The rest of the herd that wasn't in the hollow with Shira rushed towards him to congratulate him on his first cub. "What's his name?" asked Peaches excitedly.

"Jeddson," said Diego, still beaming. Something dawned on him, and he turned round in a flash. "I've got three more coming!"

Ellie smiled as Shira looked at her second and third cub for the first time. They were just like each other, tawny brown with flecks of white speckling their backs. Diego was still grinning madly, licking his cubs' heads. "Any idea what to call these two?" asked Ellie.

"Carlow, and Maximillion," she answered, indicating with her head as to which was which. Suddenly, she felt another contraction and cried out. "Last one!" she said, with a grimace.

Several hours later, Ellie appeared at the entrance to the huge tree. "Shira is going to come out with her cubs for a little while, okay?" she said to Sid.

"Really? Oh, I'm going to be their favourite Uncle, I can tell."

Shira nervously poked her head out, and pushed something forward from inside. "Go on, Jedd." A small, golden cub with intensely dark, brown eyes stepped forward uneasily. He gave a rather grumpy look to his adoring herd, and promptly began to investigate his surroundings.

He bumped into Peaches' foot and looked at it, puzzled. "Hi, Jeddson," she said in hushed tones, taken by the little cub. He frowned, and continued on his travels. Crash and Eddie held in giggles and laughed as he crushed his nose against Sid's belly. "Hey there, little fella!" Jeddson scowled and ran back to his mother, who was lying down with Diego next to the tree hollow's entrance.

As he returned, two identical cubs poked their heads from around their mother. Shira smiled a little and the two looked up at her. It was surreal to see her own exact eyes staring back at her. Carlow and Maximillion bumped into each other and stumbled over the uneven ground, letting out small grunts and giggles as they fell over. "They're so... Small," said Manny, overwhelmed. Their bright, sapphire-blue eyes shone with excitement and happiness as they greeted the herd, snuffling happily around Crash and Eddie. "They're like matching versions of us, Ed!" yelled Crash. They both pressed a small fist to their own chests. "We solemnly swear to lead these two astray in as many ways as possible."

"Oh, no you don't," said Diego quickly, who picked up Carlow in his mouth, and taking him out of reach of the opossums. The cub fought playfully against his fathers strong grip, and his brother followed him back to his mother.

"So where's number four?" asked Manny. "Just coming," said Diego quietly, smiling. A tiny, black cub wandered out of the tree hollow, yawning. It's big eyes blinked in alarm at all the new faces. "It's alright Lyra, come on, here's Mummy." Shira coaxed her cub to come nearer, and the young sabre tooth ran towards her mother. "Aw, her little foot is all white!" said Peaches, pointing out the cub's front left paw to her mother.

Diego licked his only female cub on the head, and she wriggled, shaking her head that was so like Shira's. The only resemblance she bared to her father was the large, hazel eyes that gazed up at him. For the first time, Diego truly felt what he realised Manny must feel for his family; a sense of love, and togetherness only achieved by sharing blood.

**I hope you all enjoyed :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yes, I'm in a mood to post two chapters to everything. idk.**

**Token Disclaimer Guy - I don't own Ice Age (all together now! AWWW)**

"I'll look after everyone, Mum."

"Oh rover, mother dear!"

"It's au revoir you prat, Carlow."

"Bye, Mummy!"

Shira laughed, and watched her four cubs run into the forest. After much convincing, and lots of encouragement from Peaches who had just reached adulthood, Diego and her had allowed their offspring to go into the forest unaccompanied. Shira wasn't very worried, Jeddson was with them and he was almost like the grumpy and "proper" sabre-tooth tiger parts of his parents. The twins would be a nightmare to control but they knew what was too far. As for Lyra... "What if she gets lost? She's younger, and she's a girl-" Shira gave her mate a hard look. "She's only little!" The tigeress nuzzled Diego, and sighed. "She's an adolescent. Lyra can look after herself. I was her age when my pack was broken apart." Diego looked down at his mate, who still had a small tone of sadness to her voice as she said this. "I suppose." He licked Shira affectionately. "We can only hope Peaches doesn't go out with Lewis at the same time." Shira laughed.

"You can't be worried about those two? I'm more worried about Crash and Eddie..." Shira realised her mistake as soon as she said it. "Diego-"

For Diego had sprinted off to find Ellie, and probably try to convince her brothers to never set foot in the forest for the rest of eternity.

"Woohoo!" Carlow leapt off a rock and pounced on his brother. Jeddson shoved his brother off easily and rolled his eyes, continuing quietly. Max started to chat to his twin and the two fought and played. Lyra followed behind, barely noticing the antics of her brothers.

She was intensely interested in a butterfly that followed her, and whenever she stopped, would land on her tail. The only way she could stop it was by waving her tail madly which only made her look stupid, which Max frequently reminded her. After the fifth time he asked her about the tail, she snapped. "Look, piss off Max, I'm trying to get rid off it."

"Not trying very hard-"

"Sh!" Jeddson had lowered himself down to the ground and was lying still. "There."

The other three crept in line with him and followed suit, looking at what Jedd had pointed out. A lone deer fawn was eating quietly. "Lyra," Jedd whispered.

"Mhm."

"Wanna try this?" Jedd glanced sideways at his sister. Her eyes were focused entirely on the calf. "Sure."

Lyra stared unblinkingly from her cover. A bird flew from a bush, and the fawn looked up, curious. After a painful few seconds, it looked straight down and continued eating. Lyra rocked back on her haunches and opened her mouth slightly, revealing more white teeth. She sprang, sprinting forward and snarling, easily out running the fawn. Lyra could feel the stones pointing into her paws and slashed through the air, her claws catching the deer on it's hind quarters. As she moved her other paw to claw it down, a streak moved in front of her, impossibly fast and the shoved the deer out of the way. Landing, she turned round and readied herself to fight. Her brothers had ran after her, and stopped suddenly when they realised who it was.

Diego stood over the fawn, which got to its feet and sprinted into the deeper forest. His eyes were burning with rage. Lyra, realising she hadn't stopped snarling, ceased immediately. "What were you thinking, Lyra!?" Diego faced off his daughter, glaring down at her. "It was only-"

"Fun? Fun!? We don't kill for fun! We kill when we're hungry. I explicitly told you not to even practise unless your mother or myself were here with you! Do you realise how our herd could feel threatened if this happens more? What if Lewis had seen you killing a deer fawn_ for fun_?! Where are your brothers? Jeddson... He said he'd look after you... I can't believe this happened... I trusted you all..." He continued to mutter to himself but stopped when he saw his other children.

"So. Jeddson. Care to explain why your sister almost killed a deer while she was in your care?" Jeddson didn't look up, and his eyes were lowered. He mumbled something, and Carlow and Max stood, terrified. "Muttering won't get you anywhere, Jeddson. Carlow?" Diego looked at Carlow, whose eyes widened and shook his head slightly. "Maximillion?" Max didn't move. "Come on, all of you. You can tell your mother yourselves."

The whole herd sat in uncomfortable silence that night, only broken by Sid trying to start conversation or Granny muttering insults. Lyra had curled into a ball, and sat beside Peaches who occasionally patted her friend on the shoulder with her trunk. Crash and Eddie sat playing a complicated game involving stones that no one apart from them could understand. Jeddson brooded, speaking to no one, not even his mother. The twins pawed at cooling coals that fell from the fire. Manny, Ellie and Shira made polite conversation every ten minutes or so, which would quickly die. Diego simply sat on his own, away from the group and scowled at the bushes. It was going to be a long night.

**Reviews make the sun come out x**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey hey! This is a bit longer than the others but it's more important! I worked really hard on this so I hope you like it :)**

**Thanks to all the reviewers, thankyou for following and favouriting, hope I haven't made you wait too long!**

**Disclaimer: Ice age doesn't belong to me :(**

**Enjoy!**

Lyra opened her eyes. She must have dozed off sometime late in the evening, because as she looked around, she saw the herd in their respective beds. Ellie, Peaches and the opossums were hanging upside down from separate trees, as one tree couldn't hold the two mammoth cows together. Manny was lying underneath a large oak, his trunk interlocking with his mate's. Sid lay on a large rock in a bizarre position, mumbling in his sleep and twitching occasionally. Sid's Granny was sleeping deeply in a bush, her walking stick jutting out of the foliage and quivering when she snored.

Lyra looked up into the jet black sky, littered with stars glowing like tiny diamonds. She wondered how they worked, all alone up there. Was it possible that they had families? Could they fly away if they didn't want to be there anymore? Or were they more like the sun, fixed in a rotation that never changed? She itched her ear, and looked for the moon. It glowed brightly, a crescent that twinkled happily. Lyra liked the dark. A small snort from the left made her turn her head. Her mother and father lay together on a large, flat stone, snuffling and sleeping soundly. Her father's brow was furrowed, grumbling once or twice. Lyra sighed unhappily, and put her head between her paws. She hadn't want it to go so badly wrong. In fact, Lyra had been thinking about how proud her Dad would be when she brought back food for the whole family. Instead, he was angry with her! "Can't please him," she grumbled to herself.

A burning ember jumped out of the fire and stung at her paw. She yelped at the sudden pain and felt someone nudge her. Lyra turned round to face her older brothers Carlow and Max.

"I thought you were asleep."

"So did we," answered the twins.

"What is it?" Lyra asked.

"Well..." Carlow exchanged a look with his brother. "We were gonna go for a bit of a night time wander."

"Are you insane?!" she said loudly. Her mother stirred a little, and Lyra quietened her voice. "After all that happened today and you want to get into more trouble?"

"When do we not want to get into trouble?" Lyra rolled her eyes and got to her feet slowly. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go and find somewhere to sleep."

"How dull you are, sis."

"I'm not dull! I just..." She searched for the right words. "Like my sleep." Carlow and Max wore identical grins. "Go on, you bore. Come with us!" The young sabre chewed her lip. "Well, alright then."

Her twin brothers smiled and playfully nudged her so she wobbled, and almost fell over, her lanky frame not helping with keeping her stable. "Oi!"

"Ah, relax little one."

"I'm only a few hours younger than you..."

As they bickered and continued their banter until they reached the forest edge, Lyra began to feel a little worried. "So... When are we gonna head back?" Carlow snorted. "We haven't even got to the forest yet! You're such a wuss."

"I am not! The forest is dangerous at night, there's Sneakies, and vultures-"

"They're not going to bother sabres! You're such a little kitty."

"_Don't_ call me kitty," snarled Lyra, in a voice that distinctly echoed her mother's. Max shoved his sister a little and headed into the forest, laughing to himself.

"Kitty-kitty-kitty..." he teased, standing between some pine trees. Lyra bounded into the forest after him and threw her paws around her brother's neck, tackling him to the ground. "Gerroff, ya crazy-"

"Max? Carlow? Lyra, is that you?" The three looked up from their wrestling match and saw their elder brother's dark eyes looking down at them. "Jeddy!" Max pushed his twin away from him and leaped into the air, attempting to bite Jeddson playfully on the ear. "What are you three doing here?"

"We're off on a little ramble. What are you going here?" Jeddsons' eyes darkened further.

"I'm allowed to go for a walk. You lot however, are not."

"Oh, don't be such a tell-tale! You're in as much trouble as the rest of us," replied Lyra.

"Exactly, and we'd still get you if you did sneak," added Carlow tellingly.

Jeddson thought for a second but relented, and let his younger siblings follow him into the forest.

Eventually, Lyra could feel her legs getting heavy. "Jedd," she called to her brother.

"What is it, Lyra?" he answered in a rather bored voice.

"I'm tired. Can we go home?" Jeddson sighed, and looked into the sky.

"It'll be morning soon enough. We should get back." The deep blue sky was tinged a lighter purple at the horizon and was a tell-tale sign of the rising sun. The young female sabre pushed her legs a few more steps before they buckled underneath her. She lay on the ground and rolled over so her belly faced the stars. "I don't want to go any further, can we just stop for a minute?" she whined.

"Come on, we're only a little way from the nicest place in the forest!" said Carlow happily. Jeddson prodded his sister with his paw and coaxed her up.

"Get up kid, Max'll get touchy if you lie here much more."

"Wait with me Jedd?" she pleaded. He sighed, and sat down next to his sister.

"You two go on ahead, I'll see you both soon."

Carlow groaned and said "If you both run back to Dad, I may have to kill you." Jedd let out a laugh and stretched along the ground.

"On you go Carly."

"Watch it, Josephine."

"Carlow come _on_ or I'll leave you behind!" Max's voice came from up ahead.

"Wouldn't want that to happen," said Carlow sarcastically, and ran after his brother.

The brother and sister had been resting for about a half hour when they felt a small shake. "What was that?" asked Lyra anxiously.

"Dunno. Probably nothing." Jeddson licked his paw and frowned. "Wait, did you feel that?"

"Feel what?" His frown deepened.

"Nothing." Suddenly, both of them were startled by a large tremor that made both of the adolescents jump. "Okay, what's going on?" Lyra clambered over to her brother and he stood stock in a very protective stance. "I don't know, but lie down."

"Why?"

"It keeps you balanced." All of her brother's usual bravity and temper was starting to disappear. Lyra wobbled as the ground shook again and fell to the ground, lying like a Sphinx. She pushed her claws into the earth and let out a small whine. "What about Carlow and Maximillion?"

"They'll be fine." All of Jeddsons' answers were short and stark. A huge tremor shook the ground and they heard a distinct crack. "What was that?" wondered Jedd out loud, and Lyra could hear her brother's confidence leaving him. As quickly as it had started, it finished and Jeddson, abandoning pretence, crawled over to his little sister and held her close. Then, a gigantic tremor started. "Oh bugger." Jedd let go of his sister accidentally and she slipped along the ground, away from him. "Lyra!"

"Jedd!" It only took a second for the young female to realise what the cracking noise was. "Oh no, oh no, oh no..." For a huge fissure had opened up between her brother and her, and trees were starting to fall. She leaped over a falling tree and yelled again. "Jeddson!" His reply was fainter, but far more panicky. Another tree fell, and Lyra had to dodge backwards to avoid being hit. Birds flew out, away from their old homes and animal voices filled the air, screaming, terrified. "Jeddson!" Lyra yelled again, her throat hurting. The tigeress backed down a small hill and instantly realised her mistake. A huge tree fell down the hill after her and began rolling towards her at an unstoppable pace. Lyra started to run, breaking into a sprint as she heard the tree rolling faster down after her. The cracking noise was getting louder, trees fell and the tremors were making it harder for her to run as she stumbled over a small boulder, and a few crucial metres closed between her and the tree. The cracking was becoming deafening and then Lyra realised what was happening.

_The crack was following her._

Her lungs burned and her sight blurred, only concentrating on escaping the monstrosity behind her. Small pebbles fell from either side as it opened up, and she let out a cry as she slipped, and her foot almost fell into the abyss. _If she could just jump to the other side- _Her thoughts were interrupted as she was thrown to the side onto a stone shelf, and the tree rumbled past her, closely followed by the crumbling earth.

She gulped air into her starved body and coughed up a little blood. Her eyes widened at the red substance as she realised how much her body had suffered from the terrifying sprint. Only once she could breathe normally again did her mind start to think. Where was Jeddson? What happened to Maximillion and Carlow? Where her family okay? How had she been thrown aside like that? She didn't realise she had been wondering out loud when a male voice spoke up. "Well, I could answer the last one."

Lyra turned to the right and saw a large, black sabre tooth standing, a highly imposing figure. "Who are you?" she panted.

"My name's Clark. You?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Uh, Lyra. What... What happened?"

"An earthquake. We're safe here for now, but no promises. Besides, what were you doing out here this early?"

"I was out for a walk with my brothers. I... I don't know where they are." Her voice quivered and she looked down, sadness washing over her.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." The two stood, awkwardly.

"Well... I guess you want to sleep. Try to, I mean. Um..." The sabre didn't seem as intimidating now.

"Thanks. You know, for helping." Clark smiled a little.

"That's okay."

**So! An earthquake, a new character and our four cubs are separated! I'll have each storyline, Lyra and Clark, Jeddson and the twins. Hope you liked! Reviews are better than Coldplay :) x**


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